Shuttle-guard for looms



No Model.)

H. E. HAMILTON a; N. BOISVERT.

SHUTTLE GUARD FOR LODMS.

No. 487,183 Patented-Nov. 29, 1892.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

HERBERT E. HAMILTON AND NAPOLEON BOISVERT, OF SALMON FALLS, NEIVHAMPSHIRE.

SHUTTLE-GUARD FOR LOOMS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 487,183, dated November29, 1892-.

Application filed March 4:, 1891.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, HERBERT E. HAMIL- TON and NAPOLEON BOISVERT,citizens of the United States, residing at Salmon Falls, in the countyof Strafford and State of New Hampshire, have invented certain new anduseful Improvements in Shuttle-Guards for Looms; and we do herebydeclare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of theinvention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which itappertains to make and use the same.

Our invention relates to improvements in automatic safety devices orguards for loomshuttles; and it has for its object to provide anattachment for looms arranged to operate automatically to effectuallyprevent the shuttle from flying out while in motion through the shed andwhich is capable of being lifted by hand to permit the warp ends to beadj usted without interfering with the proper operation of the guard.

WVith these ends in view our invention consists of a suitable framepivoted on the front of the reed-cap of a loom and extending down inclose proximity to the lay beam. The pivot rod of the frame or guardprojects slightly to receive a rigid arm and a springarm suitablyclasped together and fitting closely on a polygonal end of saidpivot-rod. The end of this rigid arm is connected by a spring-rod to oneof the pitmen operating the lay from the main crankshaft of the loom,and the rigid and spring arms are held in position by a suitable guardsecured on the pivot-rod, which prevents lateral displacement of theseparts.

Our invention consists, further, of certain details of construction andarrangement of parts, as will more fully appear hereinafter.

To enable others to more readily understand our invention, we haveillustrated the same in the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure I isa perspective View of our invention. Fig. II is a side elevation showingso much of a loom as is necessary to understand our invention. Figs.III, IV, and V are detail views of the rigid and spring arms and theirconnections, and Fig. VI is a modified form of our invention. Fig. VIIis a detail View of the modified construction, showing Serial No.384,048. (No model.)

particularly the intermediate piece and bracket attached to the ordinaryconstruction, by means of which the device is adapted to looms havingtheir crank-shaft running from left to right.

Referring to the drawings, in which like numerals of reference denotecorresponding parts in all the figures ,1 is the rail or reedcap of theordinary loom, and to the same is secured the improved safety device ofcurinvention. This device consists, essentially, of the guard or shield2, which has its main rod 3 secured by brackets or bearings 4 t to thereed-cap, said rod 3 projecting slightly beyond the end of the hand-rail1.

Secured rigidly on the hand-rail 1, at or near the brackets, are curvedor bent ribs 5, which extend down almost to the temples 6 of the loom.Extending across the front of the loom and seen red in the ribs 5 aretransverse rods 5', thus completing the guard, which serves topreventthe shuttle from flying outward or upward when it is in rapidmotion through the iron, and the center and lower rods may be milled upon the ends and riveted in the ribs; but we do not confine ourselves toany particular style or manner of fastening the ribs and rods together.The bearings in the brackets 4 4 are provided with a suitable lubricant,and they are preferably packed with green hide soaked in oil to preventthe parts from wearing out and to give them a free and easy movement.

The main rod 3 may be angular or circular in cross-section, as desired;but the projecting end thereof is preferably polygonal, and secured tosaid end are the rigid arm 7 and the spring-arm 8. This rigid arm 7 hasone end bent to conform to the shape of two sides of the polygonal endof main rod 3, and. the spring-arm 8, which may be made of any suitablespring metal, is tightly clasped to the rigid arm on the under sidethereof by a bolt 5 9, one end of said spring-arm being bent to conformto two sides of the end of main rod 3similar to the rigid arm. The twoarms 7 8 are clasped so tightly on the polygonal end in the sockets inthe arms 7 and 8, and hence the rod 3 and the guard will oscillate,which warp. These ribs may be made of malleable 75 V of the pivot-rodthat said rod cannot turn 10:)

is due to the movement imparted thereto by the arms 7 8. The bolt isscrewed very tightly through the arms and it serves to hold them sorigid and close to each other and to the polygonal pivot-rod that theguard will raise or lower as these arms are lowered or raised. Toprevent the arms from getting out of proper working position or frombecoming displaced laterally in the pivot-rod, we provide a collar orguard 10, whichis fitted in the pivot-rod and secured rigidly inposition thereon by a set-screw 11, whereby said collar is made to holdthe arms 7 Sfrom moving laterally on the pivot-rod 3 0f the guard.

The rear end of the rigid arm 7 has a short projecting lug 12, and tothis lug is secured one end of a rod 13, which has its other endattached to the pitman 14, which is operated by the crank on thecrank-shaft of the loom, and by this connection the guard is lowered andraised at every revolution of the crankshaft.

By the construction and arrangement of parts herein set forth we providea guard which is automatically lowered at the time the shuttle is pickedin each direction and raised on the forward movement of the lay, and itpositively covers the shuttle when the crank is on top center and theshuttle starts across, and it remains in a position to prevent theshuttle from flying outward or upward until it gets so nearly across tothe other side that there is no danger of the shuttle flying out.

In order to make the operation of the guard more effective and certain,we sometimes connect the guard with the pitman on either side oftheloom, and this arrangement is especially desirable when the loom iswide, so that the guard will operate evenly and not be strainedat pointsthroughout its length. To prevent the guard from falling down on thetemples or the warp if it should happen to become loose or disconnected,We provide a bracket or rest 15, secured to the hand-rail or reed-cap l,which projects downwardly and outwardly, and when the guard is in itslowest position it rests upon this bracket and limits its downwardmovement.

The ordinary shuttle-guards in common use generally project so muchbeyond the reed-cap that the hand-rail is often taken off to permit theweaver to pick out without striking the fingers against the guard, andthe guard only extends down to the top of the shuttle-box, because theyare fastened to the hand-rail and their position is rigid andstationary, and if they extended downward any farther the Weaver wouldnot get at. the sh uttle or warp ends. This arrangement is veryunsatisfactory and disadvantageous, and to overcome these objections wehave arranged and constructed our device so that the guard may be thrownback out of the way by hand without any trouble whatever.

As heretofore mentioned, we make the pivot-rod rectangular incross-section at its end, and the rigid and spring arms 7 8 are securelyclamped on the end thereof, and by this construction it will be readilyseen that in order to throw the guard back out of its normal position itis only necessary to overcome the tension of the spring-arm 8. When thecrank is on the bottom center and turning from left to right, the guardis raised sufficiently to permit the weaver to change the shuttles andmend in the warp-threads. Hence it is not necessary to turn the guard byhand above its normal position; but if it is necessary or desirable atany time to turn back the guard it can be easily and quicklyaccomplished without disarranging in any manner the apparatus.

The operation of our device is obvious from the foregoing description,and it will be readily seen that the guard is elevated when the pitmanis in its lowest position and lowered when the pitman is elevated.

We have described our invention as applied to a loom which has itscrank-shaft running from left to right; but we do not confine ourselvesto this construction, but also contemplate its use on a loom which hasits crank-shaft running from right to left, and when so applied theconnections are slightly different from that previously described, asshown in Fig. VI. In this case the rod 13 is shortened, as at 13, andconnected to the lug on the rigid arm 7 by means of an intermediatepiece 16, (shown in Fig. VIL) which is rigidly secured at its ends tothe rigid arm 7 and the rod 13, and said piece 16 is pivoted on a fixedsupport 17, which projects outwardly from a convenient part of the lay.By this arrangement the guard is depressed when the crank is on thebottom center, when the crank rotates from right to left, and the loomis picking from bottom center.

We are aware that changes in the form and proportion of parts anddetails of construction can be made without departing from the spirit orsacrificing the advantages of our invention, and we therefore reservethe right to make such changes as fall within the scope of ourinvention.

Having thus described our invention, what we claim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is-

1. In an automatic safety device for looms, the combination, with ahand-rail, a lay-beam, a crank-shaft in rear of said beam, and a pitmanpivoted at one end to the lay-beam and connected to said shaft at itsother end, of the depending guard pivoted on the hand-rail and arrangedover and at one side of the laybeam and the yielding connection betweenthe pitman and pivot of the guard, substantially as and for the purposeshown and described.

2. In an automatic safety device for loomshuttles, the combination of apivoted guard, the rigid arm, the spring-arm secured to said rigid armand forming therewith a bearing for the guard, the lay-pitman, andconnections intermediate of the pitman and said arms to operate theguard, substantially as described.

3. In an automatic safety device for 1oomshuttles, the combination of apivoted guard having the transverse rods, the rigid and the spring armshaving their ends shaped to conform to one of the transverse guard-rods,the main crank-shaft of the loom, the pitman, and a rigid connectionbetween the arms and the pitman, substantially as described.

4. In an automatic safety device for loomshuttles, the oscillating guardhaving the polygonal stud, combined with the rigid and the spring armshaving their ends shaped to conform to the contour of said stud andclamped tightly thereon, the pitman, and the link connecting the armswith the pitman, substantially as described.

5. In a safety device for loom-shuttles, the combination, with acrank-shaft and a pitman, of a lay-beam, the hand-rail, the guardpivoted on said hand-rail and having the transverse rods and thepolygonal stud projecting on one end of the guard, and rigid and springconnections intermediate of the pitman and the guard to automaticallyoperate the latter,

substantially as described.

6. In a safety device for loom-shuttles, the combination, with acrank-shaft and a pitman, of a pivoted guard and connections yieldinglysecured to the guard and connected to the pitman to adapt the guard tobe lifted by hand above its normal operative position, as and for thepurpose described.

In testimony whereof we aflix our signatures in presence of twowitnesses.

HERBERT E. HAMILTON. NAPOLEON BOISVERT.

Witnesses:

CHAS. F. W001), W. H. MORTON.

